I have already referred to the quite extraordinary article by Simon McKie in the Church Times last week, and its absurd endorsement of tax avoidance – using an ethic that should shame the ICAEW who he has represented. But this article has more to offer in showing the workings of the tax avoiders mind. There Read the Rest…

UNCTAD has won its fight to express its own opinion on globalisation in the face of attempts by the USA and others to suppress debate. There’s a full report by Deborah James in the Huffington Post, here. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-james/unctad-xiii-conference_b_1462554.html

There was an extraordinary article in the Church Times last week. For those not familiar, this is the Church of England’s newspaper read by most priests and those involved in church politics. The article was by Simon McKie who is a Chuch of England Reader in train­ing, a partner in McKie & Co (Advisory Services) LLP, and a Read the Rest…

Country-by-country reporting is being discussed all over the place right now. The best commentary by far on last week’s discussions in the UK’s parliament were in the Tax Journal – available on line, here. I recommend a read.

Kenneth Thomas makes a very good point about Apple’s tax accounting. As he has pointed out this morning: Some commenters on my article [on Apple] last month actually cited .. 10-K figures as proof that nothing was amiss. As it turns out, the company’s reporting has other major gaps. Its 2011 10-K Annual Report states that it Read the Rest…

Those who support tax havens and dislike fair markets (and that’s most on the right wing of politics) were keen to point out that resolutions in the last couple of weeks in the European Parliament and Council of Europe had no meaning as they were not binding on anyone. They are wrong. They have meaning as they send out powerful political signals. Read the Rest…

9to5Mac – which describes itself as ‘Apple Intelligence’ – has reacted to the Apple tax avoidance story, saying: The NYTimes delves into a divisive subject in American politics right now: Tax avoidance. Apple, like most international companies, sidesteps many California, US, European, etc taxes by using tax havens like Nevada, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Virgin Islands. The problem for the protagonists is Read the Rest…

Just a week or so after the outgoing Guernsey finance minister said that island has to look beyond finance and tax abuse if it is to survive it looks like Jersey might be going the same way. Channel Online has reported: The man in charge of Jersey’s purse strings will next week be asked whether the island Read the Rest…

The New York Times is following the worldwide trend of exposing companies who are very clearly structuring their affairs to make sure they do not pay the tax that any reasonable person would expect them to owe based on where they’re based, where they make their product and where they sell it. As they point out today: Even among tech companies, Read the Rest…